Seven Southland men were arrested today as part of an eight-month federal and local investigation that led to charges being filed against 55 people who allegedly possessed or produced child pornography.

Federal authorities said the suspects used peer-to-peer computer networks like Limewire to exchange graphic images and videos that involved children as young as babies.

“The evidence is horrific,” said U.S. Attorney Thomas O’Brien, who announced the charges along with 17 officials from various state, local and federal agencies at a downtown Los Angeles news conference.

The investigation marked the first time law enforcement agencies have broadly targeted peer-to-peer users sharing child pornography. The 55 suspects nabbed in the investigation lived in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties.

Among those charged was Huntington Beach resident Gary Samuel Cochran, 50, who allegedly produced his own child porn. Also charged was 48-year-old Eric David Lacey, who was living above a Hollywood daycare center while being sought in North Dakota in a case that was featured on “America’s Most Wanted.”

A lawyer and a police officer were also among those arrested.

“There seems to be an insatiable appetite for this kind of imagery,” said Salvador Hernandez, assistant director in charge of the FBI in Los Angeles, adding that child pornography often leads to actual contact with kids.

If convicted of possession of child pornography, each defendant faces up to 10 years in federal prison, unless that person has previously been convicted of a child exploitation crime, in which case any conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison.

Cochran had previously been convicted in state court of child molestation and possession of obscene materials depicting children engaged in sex acts. Because of his prior convictions, Cochran now faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison if convicted of possessing child pornography, and a mandatory minimum of 35 years if convicted of producing child porn, officials said.